John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will try to be quick. Processing times for domiciliary care allowance payments are notable with only 2% of claims being awarded within six weeks. The current waiting time is 15 weeks for that allowance. What is the Minister doing to address that?

I note the Minister's comment earlier that he hopes to increase the back to school clothing and footwear allowance by 25% this year. He said he hoped to use the money from other campaigns, but it is highly debatable that he will achieve anything close to that. He mentioned a figure of €10 million. Is it the Minister's intention to move ahead irrespective of savings in his so-called fraud campaign? I will be touching on that campaign in a moment. What are his intentions around the back to school clothing and footwear allowance?

I have raised with the Minister previously the payment of the fuel allowance as one or two bulk payments. I agree perhaps with what he said around the nature of the payments for jobseekers, but for old age pensioners, one or two bulk payments could be considered.

I must question the Minister's so-called fraud campaign. It is very questionable and has come in for a great deal of scrutiny. Certainly, the Minister's figure of €506 million is very questionable. The Department's method of calculation is bizarre. We are talking about notional money. On overpayments since 2016, we had a saving of €61.9 million. It was €48.9 million in 2015 and €52.5 million in 2015. Last year, there was a saving to the Department of €41 million from overpayments and fraudulent claims. As such, giving the figure of €506 million is being described as a hate campaign. It is being described as the Minister going on a solo run and I tend to agree with what has been quoted from former employees of the Department. The whole campaign is a fraud in itself aimed at criminalising a whole sector which includes many vulnerable people. Does the Minister stand over those figures?